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farm operation Articles

Valtra and Kesla are an ideal pairing for forest tasks. Customers have used Valtra-Kesla combinations for years, of course, but now the two companies are also teaming up in product development and the sales network. For example, in Finland and some other markets Valtra and Kesla products can be purchased from the same dealer. The Unlimited Studio at the Valtra factory in Suolahti has also ...

The period of U.S. farm bills where the instruments were designed around compensation policies that used price support/supply management programs allowing farmers to remain in production during long periods of low prices—the result of four centuries of publicly-sponsored developmental policies—ended with the adoption of the 1996 Farm Bill. In some important ways, the demise of price ...

The aim of this article is to evaluate a practical method for estimating nitrogen emissions on the scale of a group of farms, to be used in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The method rests on the estimation of nitrogen inputs and outputs to calculate the surplus of the annual nitrogen balance on the scale of a farm. The different gaseous nitrogen losses (NH3, NO, N2O, ...

ANAEROBIC digestion of dairy manure and food processing residuals in Michigan is not a new undertaking. Over the years, 11 farm digesters were constructed in the state, of which four are still operational, reports Michelle Crook of the Michigan Department of Agriculture in a presentation in the spring of 2007. “Three of the operating digesters are for livestock manure and one is for food ...

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is home to about 7,000 dairy farms with an average herd size of less than 100 cows. While nutrient and odor management are of great importance to these farms, their overall economic viability appears to be the primary factor driving installation of anaerobic digesters over the past few years. “Pennsylvania has 30 dairy digesters and about 5 swine digesters ...

How are we going to feed the growing population by 2050? How we are going to double our food supply and how will the farming be sustainable? All the answers involve farm technology. Farm technology creates the ability to grow plants that are disease resistant, to use the equipment that can target individual crops and strengthen the rice that can survive drought and flooding and literally save ...

A county agency and a farmer in Vermont have teamed up to collect and compost food residuals and other organics. The Rutland County Solid Waste District (RCSWD), which is responsible for managing MSW for 16 cities and towns, began planning the food residuals composting program in December, 1996 with the Rutland Natural Resource Conservation District, one of 14 districts in Vermont that promotes ...

ACF-32 solved sludge handling problems, requiring extensive mechanical agitation during bi-annual clean-out, in a Pull & Plug Pump system for 10,000 hog facility. Significantly reduced crust and sludge, as well as eliminating odor in five weeks. Plainview Colony is located 9 miles north of Ipswich, South Dakota. The hog operation manager is Larry Wipf, an experienced, seasoned operator. The hog ...

OverviewKfar Ruppin is one of the leading fish farming coops in Israel. Recent restrictions on water consumption and discharge have led the coop to consider semi intensive closed loop fish ponds. The main objectives in closed loop fish farming applications are prevention of Ammonia and Nitrite accumulation, and removal of suspended solids. Usually, the investment in a closed water cycle system ...

The need to upgrade dairy waste management practices to overcome pollution problems is leading more farmers to seek solutions with anaerobic digestion technology. Two recent examples of this trend are underway at California sites. The Cal Poly Dairy is located adjacent to the California Polytechnic State University campus in San Luis Obispo. The dairy milks 180 cows with a total population of ...

In the fall of 2012, Brian Jones of Joneslan Farm in Hyde Park, Vermont spread the first load of manure that had gone through the farm’s new anaerobic digester. “It didn’t smell at all,” recalls Jones. “And we’ve been told that the nitrogen in the digested manure is more available to the plants we grow.” When the Joneslan Farm digester went on line in ...

Since their foundation some 70 years ago, New Milton Sand and Ballast (NMSB) – a wholly owned subsidiary of H.H. & D.E. Drew Ltd – have established themselves as a relatively small but highly successful regional business providing high-quality aggregate, concrete and waste solutions to meet the demands of a particular niche market – namely the smaller builders, local ...

Located 50 miles northwest of Dayton, Ohio, the owners of Fresh Aire Farms grow crops on over 250 acres of farmland, relying on high quality compost as a soil conditioner and nutrient amendment. Dan and Michelle Young started composting seven years ago to reduce the amount of chemical inputs they had to buy. “We are a certified organic farm incorporating sound cropping principles,” says Dan ...

Improving Irrigation ROI Through Efficient Pumping Solutions Saving Energy, Water and Labor When fourth-generation Othello, Wash., farmer AJ Ochoa decided to upgrade his irrigation and water pumping system, he turned to a team of professionals from Lindsay and its subsidiary Watertronics, to help design and install one of the most efficient and ...

THROUGH its award-winning Cow Power program, Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS), a Vermont utility headquartered in the city of Rutland, is helping dairy farmers diversify their incomes by turning manure into electricity. The farmers process manure in anaerobic digesters to generate power, which CVPS customers voluntarily pay a premium to purchase. In addition to income from electricity sales, ...

Compostable products are increasingly a part of the formula when companies, institutions, municipal programs and special events decide to go green, usually to implement a food scraps diversion program. Due to increasing demand, the compostable products industry is growing rapidly, with many different options on the market. BioCycle has been covering developments in the compostable products ...

The ever increasing load on the environment calls for more intensive measures to maintain the natural equilibrium. This is especially the case when it comes to the different life forms in rivers and lakes. In order to maintain indigenous fish populations it has become necessary in many countries to introduce stocking programs for coarse fish in addition to the ever increasing activities involving ...

Changes in agricultural production methods have been associated with environmental pressure and a loss of natural habitats. This paper explores the extent to which farmer participation in off-farm work (an increasing phenomenon in most developed countries) changes the intensity of agricultural input use focusing, in particular, on fertilizer and crop protection product use. A sample selection ...

Historically, Thailand is one of the leading shrimp producing countries in the world. And, growing numbers of Thai farmers depend on AIRE-O2® aeration for water quality management. This major Penaeus monodon farm chose the AIRE-O2® aerators, 'for good oxygen transfer and horizontal flow for better circulation'. The manager reported, 'Daily operation of the farm is smoother due to easy ...

When exploring the merits of on-farm composting, the question most often raised is: What are the economics? How do the savings or revenues from on-farm composting compare to the costs? Of course, the answer is the ever present “it depends.” Expenses, resources, revenue opportunities, environmental constraints and circumstances vary greatly from one farm to the next. Most people would agree that ...